June 30, 2014

So I'm liking job #3. It's mostly triaging and handling refills and appointments, with the occasional in-person chat or VS/weight check. This is going to nicely refine my assessment skills. It's also going to push me to relearn Spanish, as about half of my patients don't speak English. I'm getting really good at dealing with interpreters, though.

I don't know how often I will get to work there though, as they have a very strict seniority system. I'm pretty low on the per-diem pecking order, and it's after they call everyone else--and everyone else turns them down--that they will call me. I did manage to score a week in August though.

The secret is also out at my main facility. I knew it wasn't going to remain a secret when I saw faces in my orientation that I already knew--they left my main facility to come and work for this one. And I was surprised at who at job #3 knew who else at jobs #1 and #2. Nursing REALLY is a very small world.

I guess there's no real reason for job #3 to remain a secret. It's not as though I'm doing anything illegal or immoral, or violating any agreement between myself and either job #1 or job #2.

Anyhow...

Speaking of job #2, I was back there after more than a month away. Of course, there's been significant changes in that month, but I'm used to it with this place. I'm actually more surprised if there HASN'T been any changes since the last time I was there. It was a smooth day on my unit, which was appreciated as we were short-staffed...whereas the other two units were adequately staffed, yet their acuities were off the chain. Though as the agency person, I was recruited to fill some LVN duties in addition to my RN ones. No worries...if anything, it helped the day go by faster (that's how mellow the unit I was on was).

June 6, 2014

Despite the fact that more than 70% of my wardrobe--including scrubs--is black, I like color. I just don't often wear it.

I went to a NAMI walk not too long ago and they had something unique there: a tie-dye-your-own-shirt station. For a donation, they gave you a wet white shirt, dyes, gloves and instructions, and let you go to town. The premise of the tie-dye shirt at a NAMI walk is because tie-dye shirts--just like those who have mental illness--are each unique.

I thought this was brilliant, and made one for myself as well as for each of the little ones. Mine was predominantly red and purple, little one #1 had a red and blue one, and little one #2 had a multicolor theme going. But alas, my tie-dye technique leaved a lot to be desired. My shirt and little one #1's shirt turned out predominantly a faded pink with red/blue accents, while little one #2's was a faded muddled mess. I don't think I used enough of each color. I also think that the tie-dye stand had also left their dyes out too long, as some of the colors were rather watery and weak in color.

Still, it made a great bedtime shirt for me. Little one #1 happens to love red and wore his until the other half--who isn't quite comfy with the ideas of boys wearing pink and red--gently suggested that little one #1 make his a bedtime shirt too.

Anyhow...

I'm grocery-shopping. They have tie-dye kits on clearance. I'm intrigued...well, all right. Let me try this again and do a better job. I bought three and a bunch of white shirts for the three of us. Not all four of us, as the other half is as likely to wear tie-dye as he is to wear a man-bag. I don't even try to convince him otherwise.

I got out of the new job early today (more details to follow soon), got my errands done early, and decided to get my dye on. I opened up one of the kits and went back to town. It was messy, but I have bleach to clean up with, and a basket full of rubber gloves to wear while dyeing. One of the side effects of being a nurse...it's not as though I nick them on purpose. Sometimes I forget to empty my pockets before leaving work, and so the odd glove or two finds it way home. But despite the gloves, I have blue and green dye on my fingers.

So right now I have the following tie-dye items fermenting: a purple tank top and a rainbow tank top for myself, a blue shirt for little one #1, and green and yellow-green shirts for little one #2. They have to sit for about 8 hours. This evening, they'll get brought in from the backyard, dipped in a vinegar/water mixture to set the dyes, then rinsed in the washing machine.

Messy work. Not hard work. More mess than difficulty. I think I could have done my rainbow shirt better, as some of the green bled up into the yellow and orange area. We'll see how it looks after the rinsing. Cheap project too: dyes were $20 total, shirts were about $7 for each of us...and that's multiple shirts as well: I bought three singles for me, and the boys' shirts came in 5-packs so they each have leftover white tees.

But I'm happy. It was a great way to end a great week.

For the record, the remaining 30% of my wardrobe appears to be red, blue and purple. Can you tell what color family I gravitate to?